Nick Kelsh’s photographs have been featured on the covers of several
books in the Day in the Life series and in numerous magazines. He
collaborated with Anna Quindlen to create the bestselling books Naked
Babies and Siblings, and is the author of five books. He
lives in Philadephia.

Everyone who loves children—from new parents to excited grandparents—wants
to take beautiful photographs of the babies in their lives, but they are
often disappointed with the amateurish results. Renowned portrait
photographer Nick Kelsh shows would-be shutterbugs how to successfully
capture images of their kids in this accessible, easy-to-follow guide.

Most amateurs never shoot a close-up and close-ups are so powerful. Fill
the frame with your baby’s face and leave out the lamps and furniture
and all of that other visual clutter. A good close-up of a baby can be
other-worldly.

2. Push the button a lot

That’s another way of saying take lots of pictures. The more pictures you
take the luckier you get and when you’re photographing babies you want to
do everything to increase the luck factor.

3. Experiment with the flash off

A flash on a camera is a very handy thing. It allows you to take sharp
pictures in dark rooms. But it does something else, too. It ruins the
mood. It’s about as romantic as the headlights on your car. A picture
taken with a flash is the signature look of amateur snapshots. Use it if
you’re shooting snapshots (don’t get me wrong - I love snapshots) but if
you want to take pictures that will make other people say, “Hey you’re a
great photographer!” turn off the flash.

4. Find beautiful light

If you want to shoot beautiful baby portraits this may be the most important
step. With your flash off, put your baby in some soft window light or the light of an open,
outside door . This is the light Rembrandt built a career around. If you get just how
profound this tip is you are well are your way to moving up the photographic food chain.

5. Don’t try and out think your baby

Shoot pictures when they’re in the mood. That’s probably after a nap and after
a snack. (And for that matter, that goes for the photographer, too.)

6. Keep your backgrounds simple

You could not possibly err on the side of too simple with this. I spend
about half my time shooting pictures trying to find clean, simple
backgrounds. Why is that stop sign sticking out of your baby’s head?

7. Take advantage of the moment

You have what every professional photographer wants – access. Store your
camera in the same place all the time and always turn your camera off with
the same settings. Be ready for the stuff only parents see.

8. Crank up your ISO

I don’t want to get too technical here, but I rarely take a picture with the
ISO below 400. Do pictures get a little noisy (grainy) when the ISO is high?
Sometimes. How often will you get complaints from viewers when you’ve
captured a great moment and there’s a little noise? Never.

9. Learn to file your pictures

If you can’t find them you can’t share them and sharing these gems is what
it’s all about. The birth of a baby is a great time to get photographically
organized. Create a logical system on your computer that you understand and
will use. Key word: use.

10. Back up your pictures

If you don’t have an external hard drive for your computer you need one. All
of your valuable family pictures need to be in two places. I know a photographer
who regularly burns his family photo greatest hits on a CD and stores it in the
glove box of his car.

About Nick Kelsh

Nick Kelsh’s photographs have been featured on the covers of several
books in the Day in the Life series and in numerous magazines. He
collaborated with Anna Quindlen to create the bestselling books Naked
Babies and Siblings, and is the author of five books. He
lives in Philadephia.

Everyone who loves children—from new parents to excited grandparents—wants
to take beautiful photographs of the babies in their lives, but they are
often disappointed with the amateurish results. Renowned portrait
photographer Nick Kelsh shows would-be shutterbugs how to successfully
capture images of their kids in this accessible, easy-to-follow guide.